Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-06-30
FARM NOTES.

Chickens are to be guarded against
hawks, owls, rats and skunks.
AS rule, it is the late varieties of pota-
toes that suffer most from the Colorado
beetle.
Keep the young pigs in pastures In the
orchard; those for early market should
have a meal-slop daily.
Don't use any parsnips seed unlesss it
be of last years growth, as such seed does
not readily terminate if old.
If rat gets into a chicken coop it will
kill every chick if it can have time to
carry them off before being discovered.
No invariable rule can be laid down for
the raising of calves On skim milk, and
each feeder must make rule for each
calf.
s'Dusty Miller makes a beautiful orna-
mental plant in the center of grass plat,
but once rooted it spreads in all direc-
tions.
Do not kill the mole until satisfied
whether it is an enemy Or a friend.
Sometimes the mole destroys large num-
Der of cutworms and slugs.
The demand is increasing throughout
the country for windmills that will not
only pump water but furnish power for
running various kind of farm mach
inerY.
From the report on pork-packing In
the United States, the pack for 1867,
it appears, amounted to 12,083,012 hogs,
against the pack of 1.203,507 hogs in
1885 Sc.
Dampness is bad for young chickens
Arrange their drinking vessels so that
they cannot get into them, and do not
allow them to run in the wet grass or be
ont in a storm.
AN acre of carrots can be made to yield
over 100 bushels, though the labor would
be quite an item in the beginning.
.Tnrnips are grown in preference to car
rOts, because UuoJ S-4->-->-+- from the
seed sooner and are not SO easily overrun
with grass and weeds; but the carrots arc
far more valuable as food for all classes
of stock.
FRESH excrement from animals is not
always available fertility, and not infre-
quently is injurious to vegetation with
which it comes in contact. Decompos-
ing manure spread and plowed under
exerts some influence upon the clods with
which it is mixed, and whatever latent
fertility it possesses is made more avail
able.
REMEMBER that you cannot overfeed
young chickens SO long as the supply is
regular. Not only are the flesh and bones
to be formed, but the feathering process
is to be carried ON at the same time,
the feathers are rich in nitrogen and de-
mand much nutritige material Chickens
can not be made too fat if allowed plenty
of exercise.
HAND plows and cultivators are handy
labor saving implements for garden use.
With a cultivator one can get over atleast
ten times as much land as with hoe in a
given time. Still those who buy hand
cultivators supposing that it is light,
pleasant work to run them will be disap-
pointed. IT is just about as hard as
any work the gardner is called upon to do.
II is curious how little attention is
given to the cultivation of those garden
crops that require very little care and yet
that are so much appreciated when
brought upon the table. Spinach is one
of these crops. 1t is found in but COM
paratively few gardens, and yet is easily
grown and is very relishable. It might
have been sown last autumn, and if light
ly mulched would have been all right. It
may be sown in the spring as soon as the
ground is fit, and two weeks from the first
sowing there may be second. There
are two varieties, the prickly seeded and
the round, the latter being the best. It
requires just a small bed to supply
family with all the green's needed.